Parking dispute ensues when man fails to 'respect the chair'

Bethlehem police were called to a heated parking dispute last night when a man allegedly broke an unspoken code of city living -- he moved a chair from a shoveled-out parking spot.

Around 11:30 p.m., police were called to the 900 block of Itaska Street where they found a cheering crowd, a man with a gun and a smashed wooden chair.

Jeffrey Hartman, 32, who lives on Itaska Street, told police when he arrived home, he moved a wooden chair and parked his truck there.

Police said the owner of the chair, Hartman's neighbor Luis Antonio Vera, 21, came out of his home and yelled that the chair was saving the spot.

Vera took the wooden chair and smashed it into Hartman's truck, breaking a side-view mirror, police said. Neighbors came out of the house and began cheering Vera on, police said.

Hartman went into his house, called police, and stood on his porch with a handgun at his side. Police said Hartman has a license for the weapon and did not threaten anyone with it.

Vera wrote "Next time you see the chair, you'll have respect," on Hartman's windshield, police said.

Hartman's truck also was covered with saliva. Vera has been charged with criminal mischief, police said. While it's a common practice to save a shoveled-out parking spot with a chair, it doesn't mean you can legally claim that spot, Bethlehem police Lt. Mark DiLuzio said.

"You don't own that part of the street because you shoveled it and put a chair there," DiLuzio said. "It's a public street. Anyone can park there."